Mike Ledeen's latest NRO piece gives his latest tally of perfidy by Russia, France & Germany. Russia, as reports from captured and now public Iraqi "Harmony" documents show, tipped off Saddam re US force plans, from a leak within Central Command. Meanwhile, France & Germany leaned on pro-US Turkish pols, warning them that Turkey would never get in the EU if American forces were allowed to move into northern Iraq from Turkey. We thus lost a close vote and our most powerful infantry division was blocked from moving southward. These actions prolonged the first phase of Iraq II, caused more US casualties and gave Saddam's Fedayeen insurgents valuable time to organize the insurgency. Ledeen predicts--probably rightly--that Russia will use its spies to keep Iran informed about US plans. Our position in Iraq would have been much stronger had continental European forces sent special ops to help, plus really pitched in afterward, especially in training police.
None of this makes Europe our enemy, but it does mean that we ought to calibrate our posture on a country-specific basis, and calculate in the fashion of the great 19th century European statesmen how we deal with Europe: We have neither permanent friends nor permanent enemies there, but merely permanent interests. As for helping Europe, if you think Iraqis are not sufficiently grateful recall the famous line of Austria's Prince Felix Schwartzenberg after his country got outside help in suppressing the 1848 Hungarian revolution: "Austria will astound the world with the magnitude of her ingratitude." This doesn'o mean we never help Europe; just do not except to be thanked for doing so, and pick our spots with care.
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